Juno Books

Not a very long story, but a silly one. I just misunderstood the terms of the “guestship.” The last time I attended things were handled differently and I just didn’t have the hang of the system these days.

Probably for the best anyway. My schedule was pretty full of “goings” in late August-September.

But, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Carole Nelson Douglas and Stephen “Weird Tales” Segal will still be going, so Juno has some representation! Stephen is off to SFWorldcon next week in Denver, too.

Chris Howard has just posted a Seaborn-world short story, “The Gatherer” under a Creative Commons License. Have fun reading!

Meanwhile, he’s come up with an ALL THINGS SEABORN page:

About Seaborn:
www.SaltWaterwitch.com | Juno Books | Information Sheet | Publishing timeline | Complete book cover image | Where to find me (Chris Howard).

Publicity
Reviews & blurbs | Interviews with… Lori Devoti - Juno - Fantasy Magazine | Video trailers: 1 - 2 - 3 | Giant Squid sticker | Seaborn wallpaper for your computer and iPhone | Mermaidicon | Seabats font | T-shirt design

Story & characters
Character list | Kassandra’s family tree | Nine-cities map | Map of the Nine-cities and environs (1833 edition) | essay posts: How do mermaids hear? - Notes on Seaborn Physiology - sketch of the inside of the Wreath | What do they look like? (Kassandra and her sisters) | Scene sketches and paintings for Seaborn and Sea Throne.

Read & Listen
Read the first four chapters | Read a Seaborn short story, “The Gatherer” | Listen to Seaborn chapter 1

Find & Buy Seaborn
Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | Powell’s | Wildside Press | Kindle (ebook) | Fictionwise (ebook) | Google Books | Alibris | BookFinder | WorldCat

Twice!

Compulsive Reader:
“The richness of Seaborn’s perfectly well-wrought prose was formidable at first. Fortunately, the need to see how the story ended helped me to push past my own boundaries and finish this wonderful book.”

BlogCritics:
“Seaborn is no regular fantasy about mermaids. It is an epic, created with a linguist’s, a sociologist’s, and a poet’s touch.”

I’m making a virtual “personal appearance” today over at the ROMANCE DIVAS FORUM as part of their Not Going to the Convention Convention . . .

Here’s your chance to . . . uh . . . politely ask insightful questions?

Weird Tales. our sister publication is sponsoring a writing contest of sorts. They’s like yo to write a flash-fiction story—under 500 words—based on a spam you’ve received. The prizes are more glory than gold, but it also serves as good practice to keep your creative juices flowing. So, read all about it and get going!

SEABORN should be in your local Barnes & Noble as well as many fine independent stores by now. It is also available on Amazon and, of course, you can buy it direct.

The full review is worth reading, so you should, but here’s the last bit:

The wittiness of our heroine and the brass balls that she grew throughout the title are awesome, and the sheer enjoyment from the posse of guard dogs who not only protect her well-being, but can style hair AND put on a girl’s make up, refreshingly unique.

I also refused to read the beginning of the new book because I’m already addicted and reading that would just spoil my appetite so I will wait with the rest of the world for the next title in the series.

BookFetish

Maria’s comment below about TWILIGHT and a several submission cover letters reminded me of this topic.

Yes, Stephenie Meyers and JK Rowling have been huge successes — YA and teen novels that have crossed over into adult fantasy. But please, don’t reference them if you are submitting to Juno. I understand why folks do this. Writers are often counseled to pick out a best-selling title or two as comparable to their manuscript to as far as marketing. The problem is that, for us, this is not a comparison. We don’t publish YA or teen novels.

One angry submitter wrote me one that she bet we’d have rejected the first Harry Potter book because it didn’t fit our guidelines. She was correct. We would have. And JK Rowling is, no doubt, thrilled that we would have, because her books would have not been a success if we had published them. And neither would Stephenie Meyers’.

I distinctly remember my first look at an advance copy of TWILIGHT. For a lot of reasons I won’t mention, I knew without opening the book it was going to be very successful. (And noted it early on.) One reason I will mention was that the book was from the Little, Brown imprint Megan Tingley Books . . . and someone there was savvy enough (and had budget enough) to target me as a reviewer.

So, give it a thought. You don’t go to Victoria’s Secret in order to buy a garden tractor any more than you go to Home Depot to buy lingerie. As a writer, if you have a YA/teen novel, take it to a YA/teen imprint. Sure, it may be a contender for adult readers, too, but it needs to have a base from which it can cross over in order to, well, cross over.

…is now in full swing and I’m not there. Aargh. I never have got to go. I *hope* our distributor, Diamond, is at least handing out our free samplers. Not that our little samplers are anything to compare to the freebie swag the movie people are doing there these days.

There will be tons of announcements coming out of Comic-Con, I probably won’t mention but this…

For you vampire lovers, I heartily recommend this Comic-Con sponsor’s Web sites: http://www.trubeverage.com/”>Tru*Blood: Synthetic Blood Nourishment Beverage (”This blood’s for you…TruBlood: Suck it up.” There’s a more “romantic commercial” under “extras” — “Le sang de la passion…”) Through it you’ll also find BloodCopy.com (”This website chronicles the amazing days we live in as vampires attempt to integrate with humans.”) and LoveBitten.Net (A dating site created exclusively for vampires and the humans who love them. “Hungry for love? Get a taste at LoveBitten.net.”)

If you aren’t catching on, maybe the reminders that HBO reminds vampires to drink responsively will . . .

It all great marketing.

Dorchester Publishing is sponsoring a contest for amateur and professional filmmakers to create book trailers based on their favorite novel in the Shomi series, the publisher’s line of speculative romances. Stephen King will select the best trailer, and it will be shown at a movie premiere in New York and in the winner’s home market.

Details on the contest are at www.shomifiction.com.

Actually the Shomi site shows an interesting evolution happening in their covers. When first announced, they were very big on the manga-like covers for these “speculative romances”…the latest release (top) has a photo-realistic cover.

I’m not sure whether this idea is either “proper” or good. I thought I’d try it awhile and see what you thought.

I’ve been a reviewer for a looooong time. I recently intentionally took a short hiatus from it. This was due to a lot of factors. Primarily time management, burn-out, and the loss of the last *paying* review gig. When I began to feel as if I wanted to come off vacation, I pondered (barring the offer of getting paid for it) how/why to start reviewing again. I originally started reviewing because I’d become interested (some might say “passionate”) about a type of fiction and I wanted to proselytize. As time went on I felt I had something to say about that type of fiction or, at least, had questions to be raised and ideas to consider. I was also fairly unconstrained about how I wanted to write. I could write at length and somewhat “seriously” or I could do short, quick reviews…or anything in between.

Right now I am very interested in urban fantasy/paranormal romance — the genre without a decent name — that blends fantasy, romance, erotica, science fiction, horror, and/or mystery in varying degrees. As someone once said, more or less, genres are born due to audience demand. I’m seeing a lot of response to that demand these days, but not a lot of being written about what is evolving and very little serious review. To quote myself from the following review: “Science fiction and fantasy are almost too obsessed with genre navel-gazing, but are currently turning a blind eye to the emerging — oh, let’s just leave it nameless — genre that blends fantasy, romance, erotica, science fiction, horror, and/or mystery. Horror and mystery literary analyses look primarily to the past. Romance gazes very little at itself, but its avid readers develop a consensus. Erotica is seldom even considered literature, let alone deserving valid critique.”

Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m not going to try to fill that gap! I’m just saying that’s what got me thinking about reviewing again. And, as mentioned, I want the freedom to do different types of reviews. Not all will be lengthy like this one nor will I confine myself to any genre or nongenre.

Why post it here? (1) The obvious: I want more people to become aware of Juno Books and buy them, so if this attracts some traffic — cool beans. (2) The readership here is probably already into a lot of the fiction I want to review. (3) Hell, if I am writing for free (something I swore off doing some time ago) then why give it to somebody else? It is mine, I tell you, mine, mine, mine!

So, we’ll see what happens. (One guess: I won’t have time to follow through. Sigh.)

The Queen’s Bastard (Book One of the Inheritors’ Cycle)
C.E. Murphy
Trade Paperback, 448 pages, $14
April 2008
ISBN: 978-0-345-49464-1

THE QUEEN’S BASTARD is itself something of a bastard offspring: a cross-genre book that takes some chances and, consequently, stumbles a bit. I prefer imaginative courage to safe formula, so that’s not really a negative. There are also signs this may be the rare series where subsequent books outshine the first. But my opinion is, I’m sure, not important. The real question is: Will Murphy’s current fans — who, of course, Del Rey hopes to attract — try number two?
Continue Reading »

Seaborn is the first novel for Chris Howard, and what an amazing tale it is. From the underwater society to the surfacers on land, the detailed account of preparation and battle is vividly drawn. There are instances, especially when they involve Aleximor, that are graphic in nature, but they’re well within character. The story is well-paced, action-packed and laced with tension filled emotion. There are also two distinct threads that come together as they lead up to a climactic battle, and the author has done a great job of keeping them equally exciting. This is a book I’d recommend to fantasy readers, but horror fans should enjoy Aleximor and Corina’s tale as well.

Darque Reviews
* * *

Seaborn is one of those books that after I finished reading it, I still want more. Chris’s dubut has your imagination on overdrive. Seaborn is filled with action, suspense,devotion and a bit of horror.

The main characters are memorable….
Seaborn takes the reader on a non-stop above and below the sea adventure.It follows many different story lines that come together at all the right times. The fast-paced chapters will have you up all night not wanting to miss what is going happen next. You’ll go from reading Aleximor/Corina’s journey from the Pacific to the Atlantic to reading Kassandra’s internal and external battles toward becoming the warrior and leader she is meant to be. Chris’s details in this debut are remarkable. I was amazed at the gory detail of how Aleximor recruits his army of the dead and reading what it takes for a surfacer to become Seaborn. You won’t want to put this book down.

DCL
* * *

Chris Howard is to be applauded for Seaborn’s unique (or at least rare) in urban fantasy setting of the sea. Though I don’t know if the term is mentioned, it is some form of mermaid novel. So this will suit readers who’ve had enough of vampires, shifters, witches, psychics, fae and whatnot. Originality is the key selling point here, as is Mr Howard’s startling array of talents…

Tez Miller

First off, I loved the cover design. It was very stylish and decidedly NOT like all of the formulaic paranormal fantasy cover art out there (i.e.: seductively clad female protagonist in front of a full moon or gravestone holding a knife or sword or gun…). And just as the cover art is decidedly not formulaic, so was Stacia’s writing style. I am so psyched by the novel’s first, say, 50 pages. It read like a mainstream fiction novel and by that I mean Stacia set the stage in what seemed like a relatively normal world and little by little began offering up insights into Megan’s powers and singular significance, Greyson Dante’s true identity and mission, etc. Very savvy for a young novelist –- I was suitably impressed by Stacia’s storytelling abilities…

I also thought the whole take on demons was refreshingly original. It’s increasingly hard to do something truly original in this subgenre but I think Stacia did a wonderful job and set herself up for an even better Book Two.

Paul Goat Allen, B&N Book Club (and check out more of the feature on Stacy and the book we mentioned earlier)

* * *

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one in the series, The Demon Inside. It’s a fresh look at a paranormal setting, the characters are real (I especially like Malleus, Maleficarum and Spud!), and the atmosphere appropriately chilling in places where it should be. If you want a good read and a few hours’ escape from reality, I recommend Personal Demons by Stacia Kane.

Sherrill Quinn

* * *

Personal Demons was a fast-paced, humourous story with interesting characters - I loved the cockney demon guards, they were obviously the comic relief of the story and it worked….So, Stacia Kane surprised and impressed me with this story and therefore I look forward to the second book…. It was fun to read and the plot was captivating enough to make me forget about the constant underlying sexual tension which kept popping up. Though in this book you weren’t bashed over the head with it. It just happened and I was able to accept it.

Beyond Books

…I must say I thought that I had this one figured out immediately and I was pleased to be proven wrong. It’s rather a light mystery but still quite good. I did feel that the romance may have come up a bit quick but having been through divorce myself I can understand the situation. The characters had believability to them that I wasn’t fully expecting and even Avery, who you fully want to hate, had her moments of “I can relate to her”. If this is the kick-off to the series then I expect good things from it.

BookFetish

Mystery, romance, horror – Margaret Lucke’s House of Whispers hasit all. If this first book is any indication of the series, the Supernatural Properties is sure to be an emotional thrill ride….

Lucke begins House of Whispers on a creepy note, starting the novel from the viewpoint of a ghost. When Claire is introduced, she is instantly likeable, and Avery, Claire’s rival at the real estate office, is equally despicable. As Claire gets more involved with the house, the horror grows but is nicely offset by her budding romance with Grant. Aside from the chilling horror and the warm romance, Lucke also writes a good, complex mystery with plenty of suspects. Once I started House of Whispers, I could not put it down – either I was too scared to stop reading where I was or I had to know what was going to happen. Margaret Lucke keeps the plot moving at a breakneck pace that, along with the story’s emotional atmosphere, keeps the reader sucked in and hanging on for dear life.

— BookLoons

Author Eloisa James comments on Christina Dodd’s Darkness Chosen series and Nalini Singh’s Dark River serie (touching on Kathryne Kennedy’s Enchanting the Lady) in a Barnes & Noble Review’s Reading Romance column:

The Greek gods have always struck me as a reliable gauge of male fantasy life. Jupiter makes love to as many women as efficiently as he can (the rain of gold coins by which he visited Danae is a classic), zapping enemies with lightning bolts in his spare time. Yet despite the fact that it is male gods whose urges get so exuberantly depicted, I’ve started wondering whether perhaps female writers were the ones to create the myths in the first place. The thought that Ovid and his fellow mythologists may really have been women occurred to me after reading a recent crop of paranormal romance novels in which the sexiest heroes give Jupiter a run for his money, transforming not into faintly effeminate swans, as Jupiter did to abduct Leda, but into predatory, powerful felines….The key to these novels is that the hero’s animal nature allows him to act like a caveman throwback without being politically incorrect. Jove’s rape mythologies are out of style — but these novels flirt with the fantasy while avoiding the stigma.

Annibale Carracci: Jupiter y Juno

Lori’s Chris Interview and from Chris’s Web site…

The Official SEABORN Bumper Sticker!

You can buy an actual bumpersticker here or put it on your own blog!

I’m not sure what the “Pluto Award” is, but WINDFOLLOWER has been nominated for a Pluto Award. Evidently three finalists will be selected August 1, 2008 and a winner announced September 1, 2008.

Whatever it is, another “congrats” to Carole; WINDFOLLOWER was also nominated for a Clive Staples Award

According to a Harlequin press release, they are launching “Enriched Edition eBooks “with interactive buttons that hyperlink to Web sites with more information about the content” and “containing photos, historical commentaries, illustrations, sound effects, maps, articles and more, bringing the world of the novel to life without the reader having to leave the computer or the current screen page. The interactive buttons have been designed to be unobtrusive, so if one prefers not to access the bonus material, the reading experience remains uninterrupted.”

Am I the only person reading this imagining . . . giggle . . . uh, intimate . . . sound effects and illustrations . . .and . . . chortle. . . thinking about the implications of “interactive buttons designed to be unobtrusive”?

Bad Paula. Smutty mind!

I’ve received word that I am now a guest at Dragon*Con, Aug 29-Sept 1 in Atlanta. (Although I don’t think I’m on the Web site, yet.) As already posted, I’m editor GoH at Context 21 Sept 26-28 in Columbus OH, and they’ve told me that all my “workshop” spots are filled now. I also have an out-of-state wedding to attend in September.

Ack! What have I done to myself?

[Added later: Oh, I forgot to mention a semi-appearance on July 30 Q&A on “Creating Kicka** Heroines” at <"a href="http://romancedivas.com/main.html"> the Romance Divas “Not Going to the RWA Conference Conference.” I don’t recall selecting that topic myself and it seems a little limiting, so I imagine I will open it up a bit more to other questions. I’m not entirely sure how this works. It’s a forum and I think people post questions during the day and, after I introduce myself, I guess I try to answer.]

This blog is duller than a rain delay and I know it.

It is intentionally dull because I dare not vent opinions or even discuss much of the day-to-day.

I didn’t used to be so dull or lacking in opinion and information. Really. I’ve had people guffaw at my witticisms. I’ve been known to be such a smartypuss that people loathed me for years. I was once so informative I was the (checking old notes) “nexus of a community.”

But now I am an editor.

And I live in fear.

Sure, there are editors who get paid to be publicly opinionated. There are powerful, successful editors who are powerful and successful because of their opinions. And there are clever editors who can cut a quip or snark with sizzle and never offend. There are editors who can amuse with auctorial anecdotes or rant about writers without galling anyone.

Not me. Nope. I don’t want to ruffle any feathers, tread on any toes, put any noses out of joint, or trespass against others.

In the last six months or so, I’ve managed to tick several people off with email. Oh, trust me, each occurance was entirely inadvertent, but the damage was done nevertheless. That’s made me more cautious privately, of course, but it reminded me to be especially circumspect publicly.

I’m so cautious now I write in cliches and use words like “smartypuss” instead of “smartass”.

So today on this day when (in the USA) we extol our freedoms and laud liberty, I just want to speak up for the glory of keeping it to myself and knowing my place in the publishing world is at the bottom of the heap. And, for now anyway, I’ll keep quietly to myself and try not to cause a ruckus. Don’t expect any fireworks from this blog, nosireebob, not even a sparkler!

Just to be safe, I apologize for being so tedious.

REVIEW from FALLEN ANGELS:

Are you looking for something different to read in the paranormal genre? Personal Demons by Stacia Kane kicks off a new series with a sexy demon, a number of humorous secondary characters and situations, and a kick-butt fun heroine who intends to save the world, all set in a contemporary urban setting! Megan is intelligent, caring, and determined to succeed even if she is completely out of her element and over her head. Generally Megan’s psychic abilities have kept her out of trouble but this time they just make her that much greater of a target for the demons. Grey is a demon, literally, and drop-dead gorgeous and sexy. He is the ultimate bad boy! Then there are the three cockney guard demons which remind me a little of the three stooges, a host of personal demons with a vendetta, a witch with a bad attitude, a super old demon with world domination in mind, and a reporter following her around ready to expose all her secrets to the world. All of this descends on Megan simply because her radio show producer insists she say she will “slay personal demons.” The plot and dialog are very entertaining in this tale and the story reads fast. I enjoyed the book and laughed out loud at some of the antics of the secondary characters and was glad I was reading this during the day in other parts of the story. I am looking forward to the sequel Demon Inside for further adventures of Megan and her friends!

Stacia Kane’s PERSONAL DEMONS is getting some notice as a JULY SUBFEATURE on the Barnes & Noble Paranormal & UF Forum.